While Telstra’s improved service performance over the last quarter is welcome, more must be done to bridge the communication divide between metropolitan and regional Australia, according to Independent Federal Member for Calare Peter Andren.

“The Australian Communications Authority, in its September quarter report on carrier performance found that Telstra dramatically improved its service in a range of key areas, but there is still room for improvement,” Mr Andren said.

“Telstra has obviously responded to pressure from the ACA and rural communities to lift its service levels and the Government has correctly warned Telstra that it wants to see further improvements over the next 12 to 18 months.

“In the area of new installations in major rural areas without infrastructure Telstra improved its performance by 15 percentage points on the previous quarter, providing services on time in 70 percent of cases in NSW.

“But that improvement is still 3 per cent below the level for the same period last year and remains 7 per cent worse than in metropolitan Sydney and Canberra.

“What it means is that in major rural centres like Bathurst, Lithgow, Orange, Oberon and Blayney, in areas without sufficient infrastructure, 3 out 10 customers aren’t getting their phones within a month of applying for one.

“When it comes to the provision of basic phone services, I don’t see why people living and working in major rural centres should be any worse off than their city counterparts.

“I note Telstra’s performance in the provision of public pay phones improved with 90 per cent of phones operating at any one time. That improvement may have much to do with programs like Telstra’s ‘Phone Watch’ which has seen people in communities like Orange ‘adopt’ a local phone.

“But when they did go out of order only 62 per cent were fixed within one working day which is 10 per cent down on same time last year, and the figure is probably worse in more isolated smaller rural communities.

“While I’m heartened by Telstra’s improved servicing of Regional Australia, with the company re-positioning itself as a global technology player and signalling a shift away from basic telephone services, pressure will have to be maintained on Telstra to provide equivalent services in regional area.

“With reports this week that competition from companies like AAPT and Optus is eating into Telstra’s profits, there will be more and more pressure on Telstra to save money and that could well mean further cuts to services in regional areas.

“I will be meeting with Telstra executives early in the New Year and hope to maintain a close dialogue with them in 2000 to continue to try and improve service levels in our area,” Mr Andren added.